Taiwan’s Central Bank Takes Serious Look At Blockchain

Taiwan’s central bank is looking into implementing blockchain technology in order to improve its operations.

According to news from Finance Magnates, Yang Chin-long, the new governor of the bank, spoke about utilizing new technology — including artificial intelligence, Big Data and blockchain — in the country’s banking system during his inauguration ceremony.

“Apart from closely monitoring the challenges that financial technology may add to the bank, it will also make good use of supervisory techniques to enhance its overall prudential supervision,” according to a rough translation of his speech. “Big Data and even artificial intelligence and other technologies [will] help our bank to predict and analyze economic and financial conditions more effectively.”

“In addition, the bank will also try to explore the feasibility of enhancing the security and efficiency of payment systems using decentralized ledger technology,” he said.

He added that the new technology could transform the country’s financial landscape, while also having a serious impact on its monetary policy and payment industry.

In Oct. 2017, Taiwan’s Financial Supervisory Commission Chairman Wellington Koo spoke before parliament, asserting that Taiwan should take its cues from Japan, which provides licenses to cryptocurrency exchanges. That same month, then-Governor of Taiwan’s Central Bank, Perng Fai-nan, said bitcoin should be added to the notification system in the country in order to prevent money laundering.

Banks around the world are also looking into the implementation of blockchain technology for services like cross-border payment transfers and data management. Earlier this month, UAE Exchange, one of the largest payment providers in the Middle East, announced that it partnered with Ripple to join its blockchain for cross-border payments. In addition, Ripple also signed a deal with the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority, enabling banks in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to work with its cross-border payments technology.